


Anywhere Not Here

by BunnySiege



Category: Summer Camp Island (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff, Future Fic, Letters, Reunions, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29906937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnySiege/pseuds/BunnySiege
Summary: An older Oscar exchanges letters detailing his time while Max is away on a long expedition.Soon they reunite, and share a calm evening in together.A sweet slice-of-life commissioned by Kosm.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Anywhere Not Here

Oscar fumbled with the keys to his one-room apartment, the clumsy elephant struggling to find the right one. There were so many, from the one to get in the front door, the hallway, and finally his room, it was a lot to keep track of. It was a miracle he hadn’t lost one of the multitudes he kept. 

Finally finding the right one, he strode into the flat, setting his keys on the side table a few feet from the door. From there, he took out the letter in his pocket, stamped with an image depicting a rare species of bat from South America. Once he had kicked off his shoes, Oscar went and sat at his desk. It was one almost exactly like his Dad’s, however the surface of it was just slightly rougher than his. It wasn’t as worn with age.

He set to work, brushing aside his college notes and organizing his books in a way that would benefit his future self. He paused when he saw a note stuck to his monitor, that simply said ‘call Lucy after 4’. He glanced at the phone on his desk, then checked the clock. Only two-thirty. Once he was certain of this by also looking at the clock over in the small kitchenette behind him, he could be sure that he was in the clear for at least the next hour and a half.

Popping open the letter, Oscar deposited the contents out onto the desk. Inside the paper envelope was a typed-up letter, a picture of Max standing in front of a lake with his arms stretched wide, as if to encompass its shores in his arms, and then a tiny bit of wood that clattered out onto the desk. It was a little figurine of an elephant, carved in a very particular style. First he examined it under the light of his desk lamp, clicking it on with wide eyes. It clearly took a long time to make; ornate and covered with tiny marks where the wood-carver’s hands had shifted with the grain of the wood, or pushed to fight it.

Next was the picture. Max looked incredibly happy, standing amongst a bunch of other bats and even a jaguar, making a pose with the forced perspective as if to hold the lake in his arms. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. Oscar always wondered how Max felt about his trip to South America, since he’d been there for two months now. He didn’t talk too much about it in letters, trying to keep postage light and trying to stave off homesickness. Making his way to the letter itself, he unfolded it onto the desk and began to read.

‘Hey Oscar,

Things are still pretty chill here. Everything on the project is prettymuch done, and I’m thinking about home a lot more now. The elephant kids I see around sometimes remind me of how we were back in summer camp. The way that the moms fuss about everything totally reminds me of Sue. Does she still call you every day? There’s still no phone line here, all we have is this one computer to share. No dial-up. Probably noticed I got to use the printer on this one, no handwriting!  
It’s looking like I’ll be back by the end of the month, give or take a day or three. Weather could totally just mess up those plans, but unless another monsoon happens, probably by the first or second? I can’t wait to be back in the States and have hot showers whenever I want. As cool as half-warm baths are, they kinda suck after the fourty-third time. Wish I was Hedgehog and could just magic up some hot water.  
Speaking of Hedgehog, are you two still talking? You said last time that she was super busy, but I don’t wanna assume anything. Lucy still sends me mail, and she’s ultra-busy. I guess just catch me up with what’s been going on in this next letter, okay? I can’t make this letter too long since we don’t have a ton of printer paper, so I’ll wrap it up with that. Good luck with classes!

The coolest,  
Max’

Oscar leaned back in his seat, still holding the letter. A lot had happened since Max had been away. He had started college, something he was grateful to have gotten into in the first place, but credited his academic success to Hedgehog teaching him good study habits. Lucy was already in her second year of college, having graduated early in at attempt to get out of her parents’ house sooner. They still talked every single day on the phone, frequently saw each other around campus, and caught lunch together. Lucy was adamant that they weren’t dating, but most agreed that they were basically dating.

Hedgehog was a different story. After they had returned magic to the world as it had been, she had dedicated practically all of her time to bringing it to normal society again. She was writing a book, she taught classes at the local library about magic, held monster reading groups, did speeches and more. She had graduated high-school in a hurry, but hadn’t gotten around to higher education, even though she absolutely could go any time if she wanted. She was adamant that her current fixation was a greater calling, and her formerly strict parents could do very little to stop her despite their efforts, since Hedgehog had many places she could move out to, in case they decided to make her life difficult.

Oscar felt like his life momentum had slowed down quite a bit since summer camp, but Hedgehog’s had only rapidly sped up. Her life was packed to the brim with obligations, stuffing every second of her life full of purpose and making herself an advocate of changing society. It was all intense compared to what Oscar was doing, and even Max in his very altruistic choices in life direction was having a comparatively very relaxed time. Lucy’s life was busy, but it didn’t have the weight of morals and integrating a very dated, mysterious way of life into modern society. Him and Max had discussed it sometimes, and Lucy surmised that Hedgehog would burn out by the time she was in her thirties without a doubt. 

Oscar wasn’t so sure about that, but he wasn’t about to say very much about it in a direct letter to Max. It was something that he thought Lucy should really be commenting on, and he least of all wanted to suggest that his friend was on anything but a track to success. Taking out his pen and some paper, he began to write back to Max.

‘Max,

Mom still calls me every single day, once I’m done with classes, and before I go to work at the shop. Classes are sorta hard, but I can get all my homework done in about an hour while I’m waiting on the bus back from campus, since walking sorta sucks before standing behind the counter, and I can do homework in the meantime.  
Lucy and Hedgehog are sorta the same as ever, not much going on. Lucy won a bunch of money with that self-study scholarship. Hedgehog got to speak with the mayor the other day, and that was supposedly fruitful. It was broadcast locally, so that was pretty cool, she was super chill throughout the entire thing. She looked really confident in that suit she made herself.  
I’m doing okay. It sort of feels strange not having anyone to talk to when I’m alone. The people at the shop are okay, but they’re not super chatty. Hedgehog is busy, and I only really talk to Lucy anymore face to face. It’s really kind of… boring? I don’t know a word for it.  
Me and Lucy can come pick you up from the airport though, so make sure you call us first. We’re already making time for it. We’ll get dinner and stuff, and you can stay at my place. Hang in there, you’ll have hot water here again soon.

Oscar’

With that, Oscar folded the paper twice, and then slid it into the envelope. As usual, he copied the address from the return address of the previous letter, since it sometimes changed, and then wrote down his own apartment’s address. Nothing more to do, he slapped a stamp on it, this time having an elephant on it, and then stood up to go put it in the mailbox down at the front desk. Heading downstairs by the stairs, he couldn’t help but pause and think. He hadn’t thought much about it, but he had just extended the offer to let Max come stay with him without much thought.

Shrugging, he arrived at the front desk and slid it into the mail slot into the box, before then turning to go back upstairs. It was something that he would extend to any friend coming back from a long trip, especially since after all, it was his apartment.

* * *

Rain fell on the glass windows and ceiling of the airport waiting area, bathing the entire space in a soft static sound. The sky was gray and quickly fading to black as evening encroached, however Oscar had a lot more time than he had anticipated. The storm had redirected many flight, but not Max’s thankfully. It was only a thunderstorm, however the winds here high enough that approaching from certain directions was an extreme chore, leading to a number of flights being delayed.

As anticipated, the small airplane came to a wobbly landing on the runway, just visible from where the elephant sat, and Oscar got up to go stare out the window. The lights of the runway distorted as waves of water rolled down the glass, the rain intensifying, but it was certainly the one that he was waiting for by its coloration and paint scheme. He strode over to the terminal, and waited quietly… thinking about what to say. What was there to say? They had kept in contact the entire duration of the trip, if only in brief messages. Not too much had changed…

Time felt like it vanished for Oscar, as the plane pulled up, and people began to disembark. For just a moment, anxiety threatened to creep in as Oscar watched nobody walk out that he recognized… then, after some waiting, Max stepped out, looking around. The moment they locked eyes, they both felt an instant gravity between them, pulling them both together.

Max just barely held onto his luggage long enough to keep it by his side as he practically jogged up to Oscar, and launched himself into his friend. Oscar was a good bit taller than Max now, a reverse of what they’d been in their younger years, and it let Oscar remain standing as the bat prettymuch launched into him. The two stumbled back a bit, clinging to each other tightly, taking deep breaths, before releasing each other, Max falling back onto his heels after standing on the tips of his toes.

For a moment both just stood there, knowing well that they both had so much to say, but also next to nothing. Oscar cleared his throat to be the first to speak.

“Wanna get out of here? Get some hot water and electricity?”

“It’s like you read my mind.” Max smirked, then began walking with Oscar by his side. “You were a little vague in your letter. You’ll have to catch me up one-hundred percent once I’m settled in. But for now… that flight was crazy, and I really just want shampoo to be a part of my life again.”

Oscar flicked his ears, looking at his friend as they exited the terminal and were headed towards the front doors.

“What did you use to wash yourself when you were there?”

Max replied back casually. “We shaved chips off a humongous brick of soap and just lathered them into our fur. I don’t think my skin has ever been drier.”

Oscar could think of no other response to that as they left the front doors, rain falling heavily, and then approached Lucy’s car. The stereo wasn’t on, and she seemed to be napping with the doors locked, only opening her eyes when Oscar tapped on the metal door. She opened her eyes and put her seat back into a normal position, having had it laying down. Once she unlocked the doors, they both got in, dripping wet.

“Hey Max!” She chimed, then looked to Oscar. “Did you look to see if they had any travel pillows in there?”

The elephant diverted his eyes down to his lap. “Uhh… I sorta forgot once Max got here.”

Lucy just sighed, then turned to look into the backseat as she started the car, rumbling into life again as the rain hit the metal roof and hood loudly.

“Well at least you got Max and didn’t forget him instead.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Oscar’s place right?”

Max nodded and leaned back listening to the car’s engine purr. It was a sound he had grown rather unaccustomed to in his time away, at least not modern engines. All the ones he’d seen in a while had been sputtering and coughing, hitching, poorly maintained messes, oftentimes from several decades ago. 

Lucy drove off towards their destination, and soon enough she dropped them both off in front of the apartment building. Oscar led him inside, waving hello to the person at the desk, and then going to the stairs. Elevators were nice, however lots of old people used them, and he didn’t want to hold them up just because he wanted to get upstairs faster. 

After what felt like ages, he opened his apartment door for Max, withdrew his keys, and kicked off his shoes, motioning for his friend to do the same. Max all but threw his things down onto the kitchen side area since they were quite sodden, then hung up his coat, and began to peel off his clothes, as the rain had somehow gone through those too. The bathroom was visible from the front door with the door open, so he beelined for it.

A few moments later the shower was running, door shut as Oscar retreated to his room. A change into some dry clothes, and with that he was ready to relax for the evening. He wondered if he should put on a movie, or maybe dinner. Had Max eaten yet? He hadn’t asked, and that made him feel a bit bad about his abilities as a host. Max was taking a while in the shower, probably just enjoying sitting under hot water again, so it was the time if he wanted to cook.

Flitting to the kitchen, he set on some food, deciding to make some stir-fry, and then got out the ingredients. One of the few appreciable talents he had, Oscar could certainly cook himself up some above-par food when he wanted to. As things got into motion, he soon was washing his hands of the peppers and chicken, the sound of it simmering filling the air. 

It was only at this point that Max walked out in a long tee shirt, looking a bit ragged, and some shorts. He looked relaxed, stepping across the living room and looking through the opening into the small kitchenette to see what Oscar was doing. Max had certainly kept his boyish charms from his teen years, his middling posture and voice having not actually changed all too much, besides a slight pitch downwards. Other than that it still had its rasp, something that Oscar was slighty envious of to this day.

“What’s bakin’?” He asked, stepping beside Oscar and looking into the clear lid. “Smells pretty good, if I do say so.”

Oscar looked up from the food at Max, soaking in his face, then leaning on the countertop, being sure he was away from the stovetop.

“Just some stir-fry… y’know, chicken, bell-peppers, rice… the usual.” He said. “How was the shower?”

“Best shower ever, after the last couple months.” He laughed a bit, then opened the cupboard, getting himself a glass so he could have some water. “The air conditioning is great, too. The rain is about the same as when I left, so… no changes there.”

A moment of silence crept in, before both of them said at the same time.

“So what do you want to-”

Oscar fell silent, shuffling his sock-clad feet, while Max took it as his cue to repeat himself. 

“Do you want to eat and then stay up together? Like we did back then.”

Oscar nodded, ears flopping slightly. He wanted very little more than to stay up later, watch some movies, sleep in tomorrow, have a late breakfast and relax all day. 

“Absolutely. We can make kettle corn, and watch vampire movies.”

Max took a drink of his water, then stepped past his friend into the living room again, looking at the television he had, as well as his small DVD collection on the shelf under the stand for it.

“Dang, you have a lot of old VHS tapes… did your parents just kinda dump their entire collection on you when you moved out?”

Oscar called out from his position still by the stove, stirring around the ingredients in the pan. 

“Yeah, they saw their favorite movies got re-released on DVD and they kinda just gave me all of the old stuff. It was a lot to carry up, but there’s stuff in there from way back in our summer camp days.”

Max’s eyes lit up, pulling out a very old werewolf tale from the shelf. It was an adventure comedy about someone trying to help a their friend, a recently transformed werewolf, find the lost werewolf city of Barks, so they could appeal to the moon from the highest temple and ask for him to be cured. Overall it was a very silly satire that was slightly offensive, however it was interestingly accurate with the description of werewolf culture. Only the two protagonists were culturally insensitive in the film, and never in bad faith. Their ignorance simply predisposed them to accidentally being comically rude.

With a beep of a timer, dinner finished, and Oscar made their plates, having water himself, but offering Max some soda if he wanted it. He avoided the stuff as to not gain weight. Both of them settled on the couch, sitting right beside each other, and the movie began to play. Before long they both wore smiles, and dinner came and went, scarfed down very quickly by both of them, but Max went back for seconds, and even thirds. Obviously it was a lot more flavorful than what he was now used to.

Both of them ended up leaning on each other as the lethargy set in. Early morning swept through quickly, and the movie was soon over. Oscar put his arm around Max’s shoulder, looking down at his friend. The bat glanced back up into his eyes, giving a charming smile. Oscar rested his head on his friend’s, running his fingers through his coarse fur.

“I’m glad you’re back.” He sighed, missing this more than he would admit in front of anyone else.

“It’s great to be back, Oscar.” Max said, shutting his eyes as Oscar used the remote to turn off the television.


End file.
